Guide to choosing Upholstery Fabric

Choosing upholstery fabric might seem pretty straight forward but whilst choosing which colour might be obvious here are some other factors which you might like to consider its durability, cleanability, and resistance to soil and fading.

Upholstery fabric comes in a wide range of colours and mateials

There are lots of fabrics to choose from, such as natural fabric like cotton to man-made fabric such as nylon.

Sometimes durability is not an issue but some fabrics deal with certain situations better than others, so thinking about where your upholstered pieces will be used in your home now, will save you money and any further disappoint down the line but sofas and chairs which receive only a moderate amount of wear will do fine with a less durable fabric.

However, pieces subjected to daily heavy wear such as furniture in the living or dining room need to be covered in tough, durable, tightly woven fabrics.

Choosing a fabric which is more tightly woven and has a higher thread count the better the wear will be. The thread count refers to the number of threads per square inch of fabric.

Natural Fabrics

Leather: This tough material can be gently vacuumed, damp-wiped as needed, and cleaned with leather conditioner or saddle soap.

Wool: Sturdy and durable, wool and wool blends offer good resistance to pilling, fading, wrinkling, and soil.

Linen: Linen is best suited for formal living rooms or adult areas because it soils and wrinkles easily. While it won't withstand heavy wear, linen does resist pilling and fading.

Cotton Blend: Cotton blends can be sturdy, family-friendly fabrics, for every-day use a stain-resistant finish should be applied.

Silk: This delicate fabric is only suitable for formal areas. It must be professionally cleaned if soiled.

Synthetic Fabrics

Vinyl: Easy-care and less expensive than leather, vinyls are ideal for busy family living and dining rooms. Durability depends on quality.

Acetate: Developed as imitation silk, acetate can withstand mildew, pilling, and shrinking.

Acrylic: This synthetic fibre was developed as imitation wool. It resists wear, wrinkling, soiling, and fading.

Nylon: Rarely used alone, nylon is usually blended with other fibres to make it one of the strongest upholstery fabrics, it helps eliminate the crushing of napped fabrics such as velvet.

Olefin: This is a good choice for furniture that will receive heavy wear. It has no pronounced weaknesses.

Polyester: Rarely used alone in upholstery, polyester is blended with other fibres to add wrinkle resistance, eliminate crushing of napped fabrics, and reduce fading.

Rayon: Developed as an imitation silk, linen, and cotton, rayon is durable and recent developments have made high-quality rayon very practical.

With all these fabrics to choose from, whichever one you go for, over time the fabric will need to be cleaned and to maintain the fabrics look and feel, it's important to choose a professional cleaning company which specialises in cleaning upholstery, such as the Art of Clean.